Flying to Rome from L.A.

generally flying open jaw is not much more expensive. Alitalia now has a non-stop from LA to Rome.

SwissAir runs LA-Zurich-Rome daily (I think). They run some good deals especially if you're going off-season. In Oct 2009 I flew LA-zurich-Florence for 579 RT :O I'm going to Rome next May and hoping the Alitalia direct prices drop but considering other options as well. Air Canada also has an option from LA through Toronto.

...but you don't want to fly Alitalia. Most travel insurance firms won't insure against travel delays/cancellations if you fly Alitalia because of past bankruptcy concerns. They are not terribly reliable (strikes), lose luggage, surly customer service, etc... I have been pricing open jaw flights to Italy and have found them not too far off from regular round trip flights if you are looking to arrive somewhere within Italy. Where I did find them differing significantly was when flying into/out of other countries. Overall, I would have to say that it is not less expensive to fly open jaw, but not significantly more either, depending upon your destination/departure cities.

I've flown Alitalia before and didn't have a problem and found everyone I encountered perfectly friendly. Everyone has an airline they've had a problem with and boycotts as a result. I know Alitalia seems to get more complaints than most, but I haven't heard many about the LA-Rome route. Lost luggage is not their fault, that's the fault of the grounds crew at a particular airport (and is therefore much less likely for a direct flight anyway). Strikes and bankruptcy concerns have hit other airlines too, lately. and I haven't read anything about Alitalia and bankruptcy in quite some time.

As a factual matter, Alitalia has a pretty decent on-time record between LAX and FCO. While delays of 30 minutes or so are common, much longer delays are not, and sometimes the flight performance is nearly perfect. Taking a nonstop flight to FCO is a real godsend IF IF your final destination is Rome. Absolutely nothing beats the nonstop flight, even if it means flying on Alitalia. But here are a few tips to keep in mind, if you are connecting to a domestic Alitalia flight at FCO: 1. The westbound flight to LAX often arrives late because Alitalia ensures connections from its early morning feeder flights from multiple Italian domestic cities into FCO. That avoids Alitalia having to put passengers who would otherwise miss the LAX flight on flights to NYC, or on partner flights. The flight to LAX departs too early in the morning (9:10 am) to allow a conservative connection from feeder flights. The consequence is that the flight often departs late from FCO, and arrives late at LAX (though usually not by much). 2. Due to the late arrival at LAX, the return eastbound flight to FCO often departs a little late (but usually not more than 30-45 minutes). However, Alitalia does not hold up connecting flights at FCO to final domestic destinations. Instead, Alitalia "protects" its incoming LAX passengers by putting them on the next connecting flight. In the case of Palermo, Catania, Cagliari, Venice, Milan, this means a short wait. In the case of Florence, Brindisi, Ancona, Trieste and other less-served cities, the wait can be much longer. (continued)

(continued) 3. Knowing the liklihood of a tardy arrival at FCO, I advise passengers to intentionally choose connecting flights at FCO which depart at least two full hours after the scheduled arrival of the incoming flight from LAX. That makes it more likely to end up on the originally scheduled connecting flight. Otherwise, the risk is that the scheduled connection will be missed, and the passenger will automatically be put on the next departing connecting flight. 4. Passengers NOT connecting to a domestic Italian flight from FCO, but who plan to go to Roma Termini/Tiburtina/Ostiense/Trastevere to take the train to their final destination in Italy are advised NOT to book seats on any Trenitalia train in advance unless they're SURE about NOT MISSING the train. Otherwise, the regular "base" fare ticket becomes worthless ONE HOUR (in most cases) after scheduled departure of the reserved train. Tickets at the new promotional "MINI" fare become worthless immediately upon the departure of the scheduled train (without a one-hour grace period). If you feel that you must reserve a seat and are not sure about not missing the train, you can book at the "flessibile" fare (25% surcharge), which gives a 24-hour grace period to re-book in case of a missed train. Because of the hourly frequency of most high-speed trains out of Roma Termini, booking in advance is usually NOT necessary (except during certain times of the year). 5. Passengers whose final destination is Rome don't face any of the issues noted above.

thank you GAC, a font of information as always!! And I agree, the opportunity to fly direct is worth a lot of inconvenience, especially on arrival when you're going to be tired and excited. Plus, the LAX-FCO flight arrives early enough to force yourself to stay awake and enjoy a late afternoon/evening stroll/dinner/gelato/snack/exploration in Rome. A lot of the connecting flight options (e.g. Swiss) arrive later in the evening.